It is a Lugia corrupted by the criminal organization Cipher, believed to be the ultimate Shadow Pokémon and completely immune to purification. As a sign of this corruption, its appearance is different from that of a normal Lugia, unlike other Shadow Pokémon who appear normal but possess a shadowy aura.

History

Shadow Lugia attacking the S.S. Libra

In the prologue of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Shadow Lugia attacks the cruise ship S.S. Libra, which had been carrying many Pokémon to Orre. However, Shadow Lugia drops the ship in the middle of the desert, forcing Cipher to travel to the desert and catch the Pokémon left in the ship.

During the course of the game, Shadow Lugia is mentioned often, but never seen. One of Cipher's administrators, Lovrina, tells Michael that it was she who created Shadow Lugia, as the first of an army of Shadow Pokémon immune to purification. She also reveals that the Shadow Pokémon was supposed to bring the S.S. Libra to Cipher's headquarters, but an instability in the corruption process led to it briefly breaking free of Cipher's control.

When Michael explores Citadark Isle, he again encounters Lovrina, who boasts that she has perfected Shadow Lugia, making it completely impossible to purify. Later, at the very pinnacle of Cipher's headquarters, Michael finally confronts the corrupted Lugia when it is sent out by Greevil to defeat the boy before the other six (also Shadow) members of his party.

After snagging the Lugia and defeating Greevil, Michael will find that Lovrina was apparently correct — Shadow Lugia cannot be purified through using it in battle, massaging it with colognes, keeping it in the active party, or by any other normal means. However, the Purify Chamber, the ultimate creation of Michael's father and Professor Krane, will be able to purify Shadow Lugia if all nine of the Sets within it are at maximum tempo.

In the TCG

Shadow Lugia was featured in the TCG as a promotional card. The English version was given out to attendants of the Nintendo Pre Electronic Entertainment Expo conference. This card was also distributed at the Nintendo World Store in New York in October 2005. This card was released as a Jumbo card and was therefore not legal to use in tournaments or official events, due to its unusual 300 hit-points and its only attack, Shadow Storm, having an incredible 1000 damage (tied for the highest amount of damage on any printed card). It has the same artwork as the Pokémon XD box art.

Shadow LugiaCards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format.Cards listed with a silver background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.

The text on the Aura Reader is different with Shadow Lugia. Instead of saying, "Oh! A Shadow Pokémon!" it says, "The Aura Reader is responding! It is a Shadow Pokémon!"

Though it is more than just a palette swap, Shadow Lugia's color scheme is the reverse of a normal Lugia.

Even though Shadow Lugia is never shown to be officially "owned" by a Trainer (as it appears to lack a Poké Ball and its "Trainer" already carries six Pokémon), Michael still uses the Snag Machine on Shadow Lugia.